


you invent the future that you want to face

by thesaddestboner



Series: in the shadows [14]
Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: Contracts, Free Agency, Gen, Gender or Sex Swap, Not!Fic, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 04:34:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10632297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesaddestboner/pseuds/thesaddestboner
Summary: Rick’s known for a few months now that Max didn’t plan on staying in Detroit.





	

**Author's Note:**

> These are a bunch of scenes from two different unfinished fics in the Porcello sexswap 'verse. One of them would've dealt with Rick changing back and the complications that arise, and the other would've dealt with Max going to the Nationals and what happens with Rick and Max's relationship. I still might try and do something with the free agency idea. Some day.
> 
> The "Rick changes back" idea would've been Ryan's POV. The other one would've been Rick's.
> 
> Titled from "Future Games" by Fleetwood Mac.
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/thesaddestboner) and [tumblr](http://saddestboner.tumblr.com).

Rick’s known for a few months now that Max didn’t plan on staying in Detroit. They’d talked about it a little after the ALCS against Boston a couple years back, when people were openly speculating he might be traded. And they’d talked some more during the following season, when the Tigers came to him with a contract offer he’d emphatically rejected.

“It’s not really about the money,” Max had said the morning the news about the contract offer leaked, and Rick believed him, for the most part. “I need to put myself out there, see where I rank with the Kershaws and the Lesters. I owe it to the union, and all the guys who worked for this.”

“You don’t owe anybody anything,” Rick had said. 

“I guess you’re right. But I just feel like this is a big opportunity and a lot of people are counting on me. I can’t let them down.”

He’d needed to know that they were on the same page, that Rick understood why he was really doing this.

* * *

Rick is sitting on the couch with Max, only half-watching some sort of boring news program that Max is really into, when Max’s cell phone starts vibrating on the coffee table. He pulls away from Rick and picks it up, sliding his thumb across the screen, brow furrowing.

“What is it?” Rick asks, grabbing the remote and changing the channel to MLB Network before Max can even notice.

“It’s Scott,” Max says, lifting his phone to his ear. “Hey. What’ve you got for me?”

Rick holds the remote in his lap and strains to hear Boras’ end of the conversation.

* * *

The spring before Rick’s sophomore season, Verlander inked himself a contract extension, worth eighty million over five years. At the time, it was a pretty good deal for a pitcher and worth just a little more than what King Felix got in Seattle. Rick wasn’t anywhere close to thinking about contract extensions back then. He wasn’t even twenty-two, still pre-arb. It would be a little while yet before he would even be eligible for salary arbitration.

Everything that unfolded that winter saw to it that he’d never get the kind of payday Verlander got—or the second, even larger payday Verlander reaped a few years after that. And, now, Rick can’t help but watch guys like Verlander, Anibal Sanchez, Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw cash in and wonder where he would have fallen. Would he have gotten anything close to Verlander? Could he have set his family up for life?

* * *

Patty clutches a pewter picture frame in her trembling hands. Fred stands behind her, a hand resting on her shoulder, while Zach and Jake flank her sides.

The lights are bright, glaring, and they hurt her eyes, and all the bland, made-up faces of the reporters meld into one. 

“Rick, if you’re out there, if you can hear us…” Patty falters, tightening her hands on the picture frame until the sharp corners dig into her palms. “If you can hear us, please, please come home. We miss you.”

* * *

Ryan’s in the kitchen chopping up veggies for dinner when his cellphone starts vibrating on the counter next to his mixing bowl. He glances down at it, heart catching in his throat as he dries his hands off on a towel. 

Ryan watches the phone vibrate and hum for a few more moments before reaching down and swiping his thumb across the screen.

“Hello?” 

“Ryan, it’s Patty. Patty Porcello, Rick’s mom.” 

She sounds wound-up, excited. Ryan’s blood pumps a little faster through his veins at the sound of her voice.

“Mrs. Porcello, hi. What’s—“ 

“I have some news. Are you sitting down for this?”

* * *

Justin’s sitting on the couch with Kate curled up comfortably into his side, watching a brainless Will Ferrell comedy, when his ringtone starts blaring. Pausing the movie and snapping on the light next to the couch, Justin pulls his phone out of his pocket and stares at the screen.

“What is it, baby?” Kate touches his shoulder lightly.

“It—it’s…” Justin trails off, still staring at the screen. 

It’s Emily. But they haven’t spoken in years, not since their breakup. Why would she be calling him now? Justin has half a mind to just ignore the call and let it go to voicemail, get to it after movie night with Kate, but something at the back of his brain tugs at him, tells him he ought to answer.

“Is everything okay?”

“I’ve gotta take this. I won’t be long, promise.” Justin presses a guilty, chaste kiss to her temple and gets up, heading to the patio for privacy.

He tosses a glance over his shoulder as he steps out and pulls the sliding glass door shut behind him. Kate’s watching him, a line forming between her eyebrows, looking concerned.

Justin swipes his thumb across the screen. “Emily? What’s—”

“Justin, I just got the strangest phone call,” Emily cuts in. She sounds breathless, almost excited.

“What’s this about?” Justin asks, immediately on edge.

“Rick. It’s Rick.”

**Author's Note:**

> The author of this piece intends no insult, slander, or copyright infringement, and is not profiting from this work. This story is a complete work of fiction and does not necessarily reflect on the nature of the individuals featured. This is for entertainment purposes only. If you found this story while Googling your name or the names of your friends, hit the back button now.


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